Reconstitution: There has Got to Be a Better Way - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Reconstitution: There has Got to Be a Better Way - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Reconstitution: There has Got to Be a Better Way

By Anthony Cody on February 14, 2010 1:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Over the past month I have posted two guest blogs authored by Los Angeles history teacher Chuck Olynyk (here and here.) Chuck has shared his experiences and feelings as his school undergoes the process of "reconstitution." At Fremont High School, staff members are given the option of applying to stay, or transferring to another school in the district.

A large number of teachers there have signed a pledge that, on principle, they will NOT reapply, leading to the rather strange circumstance of administrators begging the very people that have been blamed for the school's failure to apply for their old jobs. Parents and students have joined protests calling for the superintendent to reconsider his plan. This photo shows a recent rally, where more than 200 people marched to protest the closure. The two young women are graduates of Fremont who have been teachers there as well. 

Here, police line the entrance to Fremont High, to make sure teachers, parents and students protesting keep out. A permit to hold the rally on school grounds was canceled by the superintendent.

In Brooklyn, New York, plans to close schools there drew hundreds of protesting parents, students and educators who recently stayed until 3 am trying to convince the governing panel to spare their schools this fate.

This process has taken on new significance now that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is proposing that 2000 schools across the nation should be restructured (the fourth pillar of Race to the Top.) The protests from parents, teachers and students indicate that this is a highly disruptive and painful process. Does it have to be so? According to Chicago turnaround specialist John Simmons there is a better way. 

In this interview in Public School Insights, Simmons describes the process his